Now, the rest of the story to the catfish caught in that ‘old dirty farm pond’

To the Editor:

I’m no Paul Harvey but …
When the lake was built it was originally to be for our own and the neighbor’s private use and the minnows that were put in there were only one to two inches long!

Ray Gill

When the school board wanted to build the new high school on the land, we went to court and I was first on the witness stand.
I began telling them about how the lake had seven to eight acres of water surface and some of the deepest parts were anywhere from 30 to 35 feet deep. I had three drains draining seepage water into it from the top of the hill, where the school sits today. That seepage water drained almost every month from the hill, bringing in nice clear water.
I can’t tell you how much it cost to build the lake because I used my own dozer and dirt scoop. Dr. Frank Crozier helped because he owned some land on the west side of the lake.
So the next man on the witness stand, who was for the school (and let me say here that I was also for the school but wanted them to know what they were getting) was sworn in and said the lake was nothing but an “old dirty farm pond.”
Now, other things I get to smile about, a few years ago someone got a grant to put in a concrete boat dock. A walking path close to a half-mile long was also added around it.
The big flathead catfish recently caught were probably part of those minnows that were put in by the Missouri Department of Conservation soon after

the pond was built.
Some people used to bring me freshly caught and dressed fish out of that pond.
I really enjoyed the picture of Jake Halterman and his nice catch in the Monday, June 24 edition of the Richmond News from that “old dirty farm pond” that is now called Southview Park Lake.
And that is the rest of the story.